Google to sell brand-name keywords in Europe

Mountain View, Calif.—In a policy reversal, Google will allow advertisers in Europe to bid for and use brand names as keywords in their search campaigns, as advertisers do in the U.S. and Canada.

Previously, holders of trademarked terms could sue to prevent European third-party resellers from using branded terms, such as “Intel” or “Microsoft,” in paid search campaigns. However, a recent European Court of Justice ruling now broadly permits brand-name searches as being within the bounds of intellectual property law.